NEW DELHI: In a signal that the Narendra Modi government plans to increase its arms acquisitions, the defence acquisition council, which is the highest decision making body of the ministry of defence on purchases, will now onwards meet every month.

By this move, defence minister Arun Jaitley hopes to bring regularity to a process, which under the previous regime had become an inconsistent routine, sometimes being held once in several months.

"Now onwards DAC would meet every month, it would help us review defence acquisitions better," an official said.

The DAC is headed by the defence minister and includes the defence secretary, the chiefs of all three services, DRDO chief, and other senior officials. The DAC was set up in 2001 as part of the post-Kargil reforms in defence sector.

DAC is the most important body on military modernization. It approves the long term integrated perspective plan for the forces, accords acceptance of necessity (AON) to begin acquisition proposals, and has to grant its approval to all major deal through all their important stages. It is also empowered to approve any deviations in an acquisition, and recommends all big purchases for approval of the cabinet committee on security.

The move comes even as the MoD is hard pressed for budget for new acquisitions. Almost 80 per cent of the capital budget is committed to purchases already executed by the previous government.

However, sources said if any new acquisition has to be concluded at the earliest the government will find necessary funds. Among the major deals before the Modi government is the one for 126 fighters for the Air Force, under the MMRCA deal. The deal is estimated to cost almost $20 billion.

There are also a large number of proposals and deals to be cleared or pushed forward by the DAC. From acquisition of a new generation of conventional submarines for the Navy and anti-tank missiles for the Army, to approval of several big ticket programmes exclusively meant for Indian companies â€” ll await DAC approval.

The defence ministry had earlier allowed foreign companies to bid for defence projects, which it feels will push manufacturing tie-ups and hence productivity in the domestic market, as part of Modi's "Make in India" project.